- 4 hours ago
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:08I don't know where my home is, I'm like, do I live in Minnesota, do I live in Miami?
00:15I don't really live in St. Louis, even though Alex and I, we have a home there, we're never
00:19back there. So, home is like wherever we gather.
00:26Mila, you want to wear your Minnie Mouse boots today?
00:30You look so cute. Do you like your outfit? Do you like your outfit this morning, Mila?
00:35Yes.
00:35Okay.
00:37As long as you're with your family, you get that feeling of home. You gotta wash your hair tonight.
00:43Wash?
00:44Yeah. I remember thinking, like, why are my parents so scared of everything? But now you
00:49understand, it's like, this is the most precious thing in the world, you don't want anything
00:52to happen to it.
00:53Should we get munchkins on the way to school?
00:56Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!
00:57Yeah?
00:58You get the back.
00:59I remember when I was pregnant, like, especially when I first had her, it's like your heart is
01:04outside of your body. Like, she was safe in my belly for so long, and now, like, she's
01:08exposed to the outside world, and it just still feels like that.
01:12Bye.
01:16I am a very Type B personality, and so definitely before I had Mila, like, I'm like, it's gonna
01:22work out no matter what. And I do still feel that way, but now I realize, like, some things
01:26need to be planned so that it's gonna work out, but if you want it to be a smooth ride,
01:30there's
01:30things you can do to make that happen. Bye, baby. Love you. Bye-bye. Bye.
01:46Collier, again, just so efficient on both ends of the floor.
01:51A four-time All-American at UConn, Nafisa Collier became the definition of consistency in Coach
01:59Geno's system.
02:03With the sixth pick, the Minnesota Lynx select Nafisa Collier.
02:09Rookie of the year, all-star, gold medalist. That versatility is what makes her special.
02:16Guard a wing, battle a post, bring the ball up. She does all of it.
02:22She's the anchor for Minnesota, calm, composed, and relentless.
02:28A player stepping into leadership, part of a generation pushing for new opportunities,
02:34new platforms, even building something of their own.
02:36Not just competing in the league, helping redefine what the league can become.
02:43Some players follow the moment, others help create what comes next.
02:52I was non-weight-bearing totally for about three weeks, and then this past weekend, I was
02:57able to progress to crutches and, like, partial weight-bearing. By the end of this week, I
03:03should hopefully be just on one crutch.
03:13I have really enjoyed Miami. It's the perfect time of year. I really enjoyed being here at
03:18this time. And Unrivaled picked it based on, you know, where players would want to be, a facility
03:23that fits our needs, where we could build it. And I think it worked out. Players really like
03:27being here. I really like the area that we're in, too. We're by the beach. It's just, it's nice.
03:33Miami's way different than anywhere else I've lived. I usually live in landlocked places.
03:42When I think of home, I think of that yellow house in Jeff City.
03:54It feels very small town. I feel like everyone knows each other. Everyone knows everything about
04:00everyone there. It just reminds me of community. I want my daughter to have that same experience of
04:08knowing how important community and family is. Even though my parents aren't together anymore,
04:14we're still a family unit. They're great partners as parents. We still do vacations together,
04:19Christmas together, like, holidays together. If I had to describe my mom, I would say she's
04:25incredibly smart, very hardworking. She's really funny. I think, like, her brand of sarcasm and
04:31funniness is very similar to mine. I don't know. I feel like it's hard to describe your parents because
04:36it's just, like, it's almost, like, who you are. It's hard to describe yourself. Goodbye, stranger.
04:46We are headed to my parents' house. I grew up in a little town called Eugene, Missouri.
04:54I did not like any, really, a lot of the farm life. It wasn't an easy life.
04:59My mom is such a city girl at heart, so she's super girly. Like, she hated living in the country.
05:04And so once I started growing up and realizing how different her side of the family and my
05:10grandparents are, I was just, I was like, I really am in awe of how amazing you are.
05:15But I would not change it for the world. The work ethic that it instilled in me is just invaluable.
05:25My days as a kid growing up on a farm were a little bit different than my
05:29siblings. So I am the youngest of four. Hey.
05:33Hello, Grandma.
05:36How you doing?
05:37Good. How are you?
05:38Good.
05:39Their mornings looked far different than what mine did. You know, Roland and Shelby did more
05:43of the chores in the morning before school than what I had to do. By the time I came around,
05:48I would think I was pretty spoiled in that respect.
05:51Do you remember what cows are?
05:52Of course I remember what cows are.
05:53Well, I didn't know because you never would come out and help me much.
05:57Oh, you love to tell that story.
05:59Oh, I do. I just didn't know if you remember how to open a gate or...
06:02Look, we all need to be true to who we are.
06:05Hello.
06:06Hey.
06:06Hi.
06:08Hey.
06:10You look pretty.
06:13I think my parents have enjoyed her career immensely. I know my mom tells me my dad watches her every
06:20basketball game. He watches it, like, on repeat.
06:23Yeah, I've got games recorded on TV and I got them on my computer. I got her college games all
06:31on the computer and I can replay them. I go back and watch them every little bit.
06:36This whole community, you'd be surprised at the people that we don't even know. I was in Jeff one
06:43day and this lady walked up to me and she said, you're Nafisa's grandma, aren't you? I had no idea
06:49who she was. But this whole community, they think she's theirs. You know, it's not everybody that has
06:57a child or grandchild that plays professional basketball. There's only a certain amount and
07:03we were very proud of her. Trying to find the athletic post.
07:08This one's Sarah.
07:12This is my senior year. It's her senior year in 92.
07:15One year they didn't have any coach for the, her age group. So I said, well, I'll take it.
07:23She was a hothouse flower. She didn't get outside a whole lot.
07:28Okay, that's not true. Shelby and I were outside all day, every day.
07:32But not when you were a teenager.
07:34Did she tell you about the time she...
07:35No, dad, we're not saying that story.
07:42So my high school, we only had two sports.
07:45For girls, there were softball and basketball.
07:47I played both sports.
07:49Gamal's family and my family were very highly competitive.
07:53I think what drives Nafisa, she wants to win.
07:59From a very young age, she started to become very competitive.
08:04I remember in second grade, at parent-teacher conference, the teacher had said to us, you know,
08:10she's great, but she always wants to be first in line for Foursquare.
08:15She wants to win.
08:16So I'm like, okay, what's the problem here?
08:18I don't know.
08:19I'm not seeing a problem here.
08:20And I'm not going to tell my daughter not to be aggressive because she's female.
08:23I made that very clear to her teacher that that was not a problem in our house and something
08:30that we actually encouraged.
08:34I like being the best at something.
08:36When I'm playing really well and I feel like I can't miss a shot or whatever it is, like,
08:41that feeling is indescribable, knowing that you're the best at something.
08:45And I know a lot of people say this, but I think we feel it in our souls.
08:51Even winning isn't so much as, like, I don't want to lose.
08:54I do not want to lose.
08:57And Nafisa's the same way.
08:58She does not want to lose.
09:00She wants to win for her teammates, but she does not want to lose.
09:13My dad, I think he had an amazing life.
09:17But also, he's just such a happy person.
09:20He's really big into sports.
09:23Sports has always been number one in my life.
09:25I was obsessed with sports.
09:27But in Sierra Leone, he only had one option, which was soccer.
09:31I played soccer all day, every day.
09:35So when kids were born, there really was no other way.
09:39That's just how I communicated with them.
09:41We just played sports all the time.
09:43And I wanted them to be well-rounded, so I just involved them in everything that we could get them
09:48in.
09:50He was my first coach.
09:52Like, all my best memories surround sports, so growing up like that, traveling for AAU,
09:58like, later, we got to take amazing vacations because of the sport.
10:03The road trips and watching them play was the best time of my life.
10:07I loved it.
10:09I loved every bit of it.
10:10I think we'll go on 16 or 17 weekends every year.
10:14So we use that as our vacation.
10:18I like driving.
10:20On the third row, Kyle would have his Xbox and PlayStation back there.
10:24In the middle row, Nafisa would be watching little princess movies and everything she'd like to watch.
10:38The people we're going to meet today, the Sierra Leone and community, all kind of interconnected.
10:44When we came here, everybody was so ridiculously broke.
10:49So that's how we decided to create a community where everybody put the little they had.
10:55Because there's so many of us, so many Sierra Leoneans.
10:58We would go to someone's house, like, one of the Sierra Leoneans' house.
11:00We would have huge dinners, and then the parents would have their meetings.
11:06The kids would all play.
11:07And then after their meetings, they would eat and dance until 4 a.m.
11:11I'm like, I was actually just talking to Alex about this.
11:14I was like, can you imagine dancing until 4 a.m. every month?
11:18I can't imagine that.
11:33Oh, you went to Apple Creek?
11:37Wow.
11:43Apple Creek was the best, because it was our reunions.
11:47So this is our Sierra Leonean community.
11:49I'm godfather to his kid, his kid, some other kids.
11:57Now I remember them all.
11:58I remember them all.
12:00They just had so much energy, just, like, such a love of life.
12:04There was always so much laughter and, you know, eating, dancing, having fun.
12:09The cousins would play.
12:10We'd play for hours into the night until we fell asleep.
12:12The parents were still dancing downstairs.
12:14Like, it was just such a, I don't know, joyful time in my life.
12:19And the food, too.
12:20And food.
12:22We had our usual cassava leaves first before we barbecued.
12:26Yes, that's right, remember?
12:27Yeah.
12:28And then, at the end of the night, pepper soup.
12:31Yes, pepper soup.
12:32We had so much food.
12:50I grew up in Sierra Leonean, West Africa.
12:54I had an opportunity to be here because my dad, he rose to politics.
12:59He was the first ambassador from Sierra Leonean to here.
13:03My dad is a really great storyteller, so I just remember a lot of those little stories that he would
13:07tell me about his childhood growing up.
13:09Because I could almost picture it, like, I could picture being there.
13:12You could really see the love that he had and admiration that he had for his dad.
13:18And it just made him really happy to tell those stories, so it made me so happy to listen to
13:22them because I could see, like, it was almost like he was lighting up.
13:26My dad was a self-made man.
13:27He was one of the three signatories to our independence.
13:32I never met him.
13:33He died before I was born.
13:34He was such a leader, like, getting independence for an entire country.
13:38That's, like, the definition, I think, of leadership.
13:42I remember when I came here, they picked one of this tiny airport.
13:45I saw cows everywhere, and there's, like, countryness everywhere.
13:49And I was like, no.
13:50Because everything I thought about America was, like, New York.
13:54There was nothing to do here except work.
13:57So when I first came here, that was my third job, cleaning that building.
14:00That's the state building.
14:02I live in the American dream.
14:08Nafisa, per se, she's, you know, a fame and everything.
14:13But when she comes home, she's just Nafisa.
14:15She's not Nafisa the basketball player.
14:19Well, that's typical for our community anyway, so she's very humble and knows where she's from.
14:26She sticks to her roots, yeah.
14:28Yeah, yeah, yeah.
14:29I think I carry them in my life just in the way that I live my life and how I
14:33want to raise my daughter.
14:35Just the sense of community that they instilled in me and that sense of belonging and family that I had
14:41growing up
14:41was so, I think, crucial to who I am as a person and shaped me, I think, in a good
14:48way, that I want to have that same experience.
14:50I want my daughter to have that same experience.
14:56It was really good to see everybody and reminisce about the good old days.
15:01Yeah, I liked it.
15:01I always enjoyed being around them.
15:04Even though, again, you're from Africa and from Eugene, the values were very similar.
15:09Right.
15:10Raising kids is hard.
15:12And you have to put in the work early.
15:14And I feel like this entire community, you know, the expectation, the respect.
15:19Yeah, there's going to be no way anybody's going to be ignorant.
15:23Yeah.
15:25It was just so ingrained in me.
15:27I am also really big on being respectful now, like, teaching Mila that.
15:35You know, every year before any of their sports would start, we're like, okay, do you still want to do
15:41this?
15:41We support you no matter what.
15:43If you want to play, great.
15:44If you don't, great.
15:45We'll find something else.
15:46When I heard stories even of my peers, like, their parents were forcing them to be in the gym, forcing
15:50them to do this, like, they had to play.
15:52I, my parents never did that.
15:54Once I started a season, I had to finish it.
15:56But they never forced me to do, like, to keep playing when I didn't want to play.
16:04And we weren't aspiring, you know, for a college scholarship or pro.
16:08It was just, even when we had Warriors, her team, we just wanted eight best friends to go on vacation
16:17together every year.
16:18So that's why we had Kay.
16:23Coach Kay was my first ever basketball coach, and she's the one that introduced me to the sport.
16:30She saw something in me, and I really credit a lot of, like, who I am as a basketball player
16:36to Coach Kay, because she was teaching us fundamental skill work from the beginning, from fourth grade.
16:42And that's not something you see very often.
16:46When I first scouted Nafisa on the softball field, you know, all I saw was arms and legs, and just,
16:53it was just running, and these arms and legs just going everywhere.
16:59I was having a team together, and we didn't have really any tall kids, and she was tall, and so
17:06we got her on the practice floor, and she picked up things really quick.
17:09And then the very first YMCA game we had, I said, oh, my gosh.
17:16She was just a wrecking ball.
17:19It was like, she's going to be really, really good if it's something she wants to do.
17:23So she didn't want the, you know, someone just to give her fluff.
17:27She wanted, she wanted to be pushed.
17:29You know, Nafisa's edge comes from her parents.
17:34They were very instrumental in her mental toughness.
17:40So when you see her doing the unrivaled or how she plays in the WNBA, that's not a mistake, because
17:48that's the only thing she knows.
17:52Jeff City is kind of a small town, and everyone knows everyone, and neither of my parents are technically from
17:57there.
17:59When it came time for me to try to find a basketball team, all the roster spots were taken up
18:04by, you know, people who grew up there together and people who knew each other.
18:08So my parents definitely did not take that sitting down.
18:11They were like, okay, if you don't have a spot for us, we'll just make our own team.
18:13And we got together with Coach K, we found the best girls in our area, we created the Lady Warriors.
18:19And with them, we became, I think, like the best basketball team in Missouri at that time.
18:25But my parents are the ones that, like, you can never, the answer is never no for them, they can
18:31always find a way.
18:39Okay.
18:44Kay Foster!
18:46Yay!
18:50How are you?
18:51Good to see you, good to see you.
18:53Good to see you, yeah, it was a pleasure.
18:54Hi, Will.
18:55Yeah.
18:56Good to see you.
18:57I've got a few surprises for you.
18:59You do?
19:00Uh-huh.
19:00First of all, remember this.
19:05Oh, my goodness.
19:06Yes.
19:07I have that picture.
19:08This is Nafisa's uniform that she had when we played in third and fourth grade.
19:15Right here.
19:16Yes, right here at this court.
19:18So, uh...
19:19There's things in basketball that you can teach and what you can't teach.
19:22And one of the things you can't teach is just instincts.
19:26She naturally already understood angles to be able to go and get rebounds.
19:31While other kids were turning and standing and watching the ball go up, she was already there.
19:36I-I credit Nafisa's footwork today to Kay, because...
19:41I went on and on about that.
19:43I mean, just all of it.
19:45I mean, she's just an amazing coach.
19:47She's had a very storied career as a coach.
19:49And, um, we...
19:51I'm gonna cry.
19:55You're the reason why she's where she is today.
19:57Oh, no.
19:58Yeah.
19:58Yes, Kay.
19:59Without you, without you, this wouldn't have happened.
20:01I know you guys always told her that you have to give 100%, 120%.
20:06There are no free rides.
20:07And that's, uh, you guys just crowning her, you know, and she's always had that level head.
20:13And I've got one more thing to show you.
20:16Hold on.
20:18So, this was, like, I balked on you.
20:21You said, we gotta get these girls book bags.
20:22We gotta get them reversal uniforms.
20:24And I'm like, really?
20:25They just need penny and shorts.
20:27And they look so sharp, because we'd lighten them all along the bench.
20:31And they look good.
20:32They look good.
20:33I mean, I feel like you just scratched something in the back of my brain, like a forgotten memory.
20:38Or I remember, like, a snapshot of us looking at different jerseys and, like, different fonts for the Lady Warriors
20:44and different places that you could put the name on the jersey.
20:46I want everybody to know we took it seriously, number one.
20:49But more importantly, my nature as a giant FU to all those people who didn't want us on the FU.
20:58Uh-huh.
20:58Because all the time they told us we couldn't do it.
21:01All the time.
21:02Every year, there was some reason.
21:05I used to tell them, I used to tell them, okay, if you guys are going to coach, if you're
21:08guaranteed I will coach, I'll deal with the rest.
21:11Don't you worry about it.
21:12They're already upset with me anyway.
21:15My parents have always been that way.
21:17It's like, if they want to do something, they'll find a way to do it.
21:19They're the most hardworking, like, determined people I know.
21:23I think Unrivaled is a testament to what she learned from the opportunity wasn't there, so we created it.
21:29And she saw a gap in the WNBA, so they came up with a business model to try to fill
21:35that gap.
21:35She didn't want to leave me at home.
22:05Yeah.
22:07And it was really fun, because you got to create it however you wanted to.
22:10I saw where our game could be better for me, for the people coming after me, and I wanted to
22:16be a part of that change.
22:17I always try to do something, the right thing, especially if it's in my power, and if I see something
22:23wrong happening, I try to help be part of that change.
22:30Just run, just punish you.
22:32Hi.
22:34Hello.
22:34How do you go, mama?
22:35Hi.
22:36How do you have to?
22:37Sounds like I'm getting engaged.
22:38How are you?
22:41Oh, wow.
22:42What is all this?
22:43It's fufu.
22:43Okay.
22:44What's fufu?
22:45He loves it.
22:46But you can't eat this.
22:48You'll be asleep in 20 minutes.
22:49Yes, I will.
22:51That's because I have leaves and rice, but that's the piece's favorite.
22:55It feels so good to be all together.
22:57They asked me before, like, where my home is, and I said, when I'm with you guys.
23:00Like, because especially we move around so much, it's just being with family is like home.
23:05And now especially, like, you feel like extended family, so having us together is, like, so special.
23:09So I'm really grateful that you guys are here.
23:11Everyone knows me as a fundamental basketball player, like my footwork and all those things.
23:15And that's because I was, my first coach taught me those things.
23:18You're just a beautiful person.
23:20And, you know, to see that at a fourth grade level, fifth grade, sixth grade, and to see this beautiful
23:27woman you are now, it is such a gift.
23:29You know, most people in my position don't get the gift of seeing the reward later.
23:36I love to say, she's saying you were this great person all the time.
23:40I'm thinking back, like, I don't know.
23:44High balance.
23:45High balance.
23:46Okay, I can't.
23:47Why don't we just argue about that?
23:49Who?
23:49Who?
23:50Who?
23:51Who?
23:52Who do you who?
23:54What's the problem?
23:57That's what I love about our family so much, that we actually genuinely like to be around each other.
24:01Even though Gamal and I are divorced, he brings his wife, I bring my husband.
24:04Like, we all are still very close to the unit.
24:07I'm so thankful and grateful for that.
24:09When you look back, it seems all designed, but we were just trying to go outside and play.
24:15I mean, it was the best time of my life.
24:17But, you know, I say, you know, I say it all the time.
24:20It was, I couldn't think of anything else.
24:26So it was a good time.
24:28Yeah.
24:29They got you too?
24:30No.
24:31I'm a man.
24:34Bull strong.
24:35Yeah.
24:35Strong like bull.
24:36Strong like bull.
24:36Strong like bull.
24:43I would describe myself, one, as a mother, because, like, that's the most important role in my life.
24:54I saw an injustice happening, and I wanted to fix it.
25:02You see a problem that needs to be fixed, and instead of waiting, you create that opportunity.
25:10The opportunities that I've gotten from basketball are incredible, but it means nothing to me if I can't celebrate it
25:17or, you know, enjoy it with my loved ones.
25:20What?
25:23It's still the same.
25:25I'm telling you.
25:38It's been a long time since you've been gone.
25:48You ask me if I've missed you.
25:54Here's what I say.
25:58I've missed you.
26:04Here's what I say.
Comments